A Magical Journey Begins
by CrazyJanaCat
Summary: Tom Riddle is used to being a target. He is also used to being the strongest and the best, making everyone else fear him in the Orphanage. When he is welcomes into Hogwarts, he expects things to be the same as before, yet at the same time, he hopes for better things. He is still the target, but being the best is suddenly a whole lot harder.
1. Train Ride

Tom glanced down on his ticket yet again and scowled. It said 'King's Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾', which absolutely made no sense to the young 11 year-old. He looked around himself, watching the people bustle around on platforms 9 and 10. His platform should be in the middle between them, but there was nothing aside from stone pillars.

He had been tempted to ask the help of someone who worked at the station, but this was a muggle station, and who was he to know they'd know anything about a magical platform? They'd probably just look at him weird and tell him to stop joking around. Adults always said they had better things to do than humour a child, as if they had all forgotten what it was like to be one themselves.

"Come on, gang! We're already late!" an auburn haired woman with brown eyes called.

Tom looked up, half interested in the family rushing past. The woman had four red haired children with her, all between the ages of 18 and 11, and all of them were pushing large carts like the one Tom had with them. The oldest boy had a caged owl sitting on top of his trunk and the only girl, who seemed about 15 years old, had a grey tabby sleeping on hers.

"Careful with all these muggles about, kids! Platform 9 ¾, almost there!"

Tom quickly rushed after the redheads and their mother. He watched in wonder as the oldest boy rushed towards a wall and ran straight through it, disappearing. Tom looked around himself, worried about that blatant display of magic, but no one seemed to be paying attention to any of them, as if they weren't there at all.

"Good! Sexta, you're next," the woman spoke to her daughter.

The girl grinned and nodded before she started speed walking towards the wall. In the end, she leaped into a small sprint before she ran straight through just like her older brother. His curiosity now very much awakened, Tom stepped forward and smiled at the woman.

"Excuse me, but is this the way to the Hogwarts Express?" he asked politely.

"Yes it is, dear," the woman smiled.  
"A first year I suppose? Octavian is too."

Tom nodded towards the youngest boy, the only one who hadn't fiery red hair like the others, but auburn like his mother and the same brown eyes as well. The boy nodded back, his freckled face pale and stiff from nerves. He looked a bit scared, or at least very worried.

"I'm Diana Weasley," the woman introduced herself.  
"And my other son here is Septimus. He'll be going into his third year."

The redhead grinned proudly and waved at Tom, who waved back. This one had blue eyes and just as much freckles as his younger brother.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Tom Riddle."

"A muggle born, right?" Septimus asked, grinning wider now.

The eager glint in the older boy's eyes had Tom frown. He didn't like the way Septimus looked at him at all. Instead of answering, he looked back up at the woman and smiled shyly.

"Could you maybe explain to me how to get on the platform?" he asked hopeful.

"Of course dear! Just run straight ahead through the wall and you get there," she answered.  
"Let Septimus show you how, alright?"

Tom nodded and watched as the older boy pushed off and started running towards the wall. Just as the two before him, he disappeared into the wall. Mrs. Weasley looked over at Tom again and smiled kindly.

"Go on then. Your turn now, sweetheart."

Tom wanted to frown at the endearments the woman kept giving him, but he bit his tongue and nodded. He took a deep breath and started pushing his cart towards the wall in a small sprint. When he reached, he couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes in fear of crashing hard. Nothing happened though, and as Tom opened his eyes again, he was in awe at the sight before him. A large, red train stood in the station as many people dressed in strange robes and pointy hats were saying goodbye to their children wearing black school robes. Here and there, he saw a few families with muggle clothes, like himself and the Weasleys, but not that many compared to the wizard getups.

He noticed the eldest Weasley talking to a boy the same age as he with dark brown hair that seemed to stick out every which way and brown eyes behind round glasses. He looked a lot like Mrs. Weasley, but with darker hair. His father was standing next to him, and Tom noted they looked almost exactly alike.

As he walked out of the way of the large gate, as it wasn't just a wall on this side apparently, Octavian and Mrs. Weasley walked through as well. He saw the woman started smiling and she walked over to her oldest and the two men he was talking to.

"Henry!" she greeted the man, before hugging the boy.  
"Ah! You've grown so much, dear Charlus!"

"Good day, aunt Diana," the teenage boy greeted.

Tom turned away, bored from looking at the group. He noticed Septimus Weasley standing next to yet another red haired girl that looked to be around his age or a bit younger. She had curly hair and blue eyes and again, a lot of freckles. Close by stood another red haired man and a brown haired woman who was trying to manage three toddler boys with curly red hair and too many freckles. He suspected they too were cousins from the four Weasley siblings he had already met.

He saw a few other interesting looking people walking around, like the boy with platinum blond hair and dark blue eyes that seemed to look as if something smelt really bad. He already had his school robes on, but they were in a neutral black, like Tom's, meaning he was a first year as well. Next to the boy sat an older girl with the same platinum hair with silver and purple flowers braided into it in the back and her robes had blue and bronze on them. Their parents seemed regal, the father with equally light hair and their mother a golden blond done up in a high bun. Both parents had the same blue eyes as their children.

Not that far away stood two sets of twins, all first years as well, eagerly talking to each other. One set, a boy and a girl, had light blond hair and liquid silver eyes, while the second set, again a boy and a girl, had black hair and green eyes. The blond girl had her long, wavy hair loose around her shoulders and her brother had short, slightly curly hair. The dark haired girl had kept it short and spiky while her twin had nearly shoulder length waves. As the dark haired girl saw Tom looking, she grinned and suddenly, her features warped to mimic Tom's. His eyes widened in surprise, but the girl already stopped paying attention. He watched as her twin scowled and warped his own appearance to once again copy hers.

Shaking the weirdness off, Tom dragged his trunk over to the train and hauled it inside. He looked around and entered the first cabin he came across, where only one person was seated. The young girl had red hair done up in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. As Tom walked in, she looked up from her book and smiled at him.

"Hello," Tom greeted, smiling back at her.  
"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"No, of course not. Go right ahead," the girl replied before looking back down at her book.

Tom looked at the book, noticing it was one of their curriculum, their history book, 'Witchcraft through the Centuries'. Tom had flipped through it on his own at the orphanage as well and remembered wondering how the magical community hadn't yet gotten rid of the muggles after the Inquisition and the Witch Trials. A lot of the witches and wizards had actually thought of the whole thing as a game.

"I don't see why they never considered the trials more serious," he commented.  
"I understand they could easily escape the stake, but what about the children? They couldn't preform enough magic to get away, could they?"

The girl scowled in thought and looked back up from the book.

"That's actually a good question," she mumbled.  
"I'm Gwendolyn Weasley by the way, but call me Gwen."

"Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Tom Riddle," Tom greeted.  
"Another Weasley, huh? I already met Septimus and Octavian, and their two older siblings."

"You haven't even met half of us," Gwen chuckled.  
"My uncle Nigel and aunt Diana have a total of eight kids. Poor Sexta is the only daughter. Primus, Adjutor, Tertius and Quartus are all already graduated. My uncle John and aunt Eleonore have four kids. Clara is twelve and in her second year now, and the triplets are only three. Then there's me. I'm an only child."

"Big family," Tom agreed, wide eyed.  
"That's all of them, right?"

"Not really. I have an aunt who married a Russian. Cousin Georgi goes to his second year in Durmstrang."

Tom nodded in understanding and grabbed one of his own books. He decided on reading up on Transfigurations a bit. He was curious about the twins that could change their looks and wondered if he could learn how to do it. He looked up for a moment when the train started moving. Gwen looked up as well and smiled at Tom.

"What about your family?" Gwen asked curiously.  
"Probably not as big as mine, but…"

"I'm an orphan," Tom shrugged.  
"My mother gave birth in the orphanage and died immediately after. I don't even know if my father's still alive at all."

"Oh… I'm sorry," Gwen mumbled softly, looking away embarrassed.

"No need to be. I never knew either of them," Tom replied, smiling at her.

They both fell silent after that. Gwen moved to look out the window and just enjoy the sights flashing past while Tom turned back to his Transfiguration book. Suddenly, the door to their compartment slammed open loudly and a boy with platinum blond hair stumbled in, laughing cheerfully. When he saw Tom and Gwen, he quickly shut up and grinned impishly.

"Sorry, didn't see there were already people in here," he muttered.

A girl with long platinum blond hair popped her head in and stared from the boy that looked near identical to her to Tom and Gwen. She pursed her lips together and looked back over to her twin.

"Seth! You can't just storm in any compartment!" she scolded.

"Merlin, Hope! I couldn't know they were in here already! They're so bloody quiet!"

A black haired girl popped in too, grinning as she threw her arm over the blond girl.

"Let's leave these two alone, alright? We can find some place…" she said.

"As long as we don't go sit with 'Burga I'm ok!" a boy with black hair joined in.  
"Of course, I guess Walburga is always a better choice than a Weasley."

The two dark haired kids pulled up their noses as they glared at Gwen, who glared back.

"No one asked you to come in here, Black," the redhead hissed.

The two dark haired twins rolled bright purple eyes and moved back away out of sight. The blond boy eyed Gwen and Tom for a few moments before moving past his twin, who rolled her eyes and turned away too. Just then, a third platinum blonde popped his head in. This one looked a bit different from the twins though, a pointy face instead of the more heart shaped of Hope and Seth, and dark blue eyes instead of silver grey. He scowled when he saw Gwen and quickly turned towards Tom.

"Either you're a mudblood or really stupid if you hang around a blood traitor like Weasley," he spat.

"Be nice, 'Brax," the blond girl muttered, slapping the boys arm before dragging him out.

Gwen scoffed and glared at the closed door. Tom scowled and closed his book.

"Who were they?" he asked curiously.

"The Knight twins, Hope and Seth, the Black twins, Artemis and Alphard, and Abraxas Malfoy," Gwen replied frowning.  
"The Blacks and Malfoys are dark families and hate everything remotely muggle. Since my family has been supporting muggle rights for several generations that includes all things Weasley. I don't see the appeal of muggles, but I hate that they look down on us for our views."

"Dark families… is that bad?" Tom wondered.

"Most say it is, but I don't think so," Gwen replied shrugging.  
"Dark, Grey and Light are magical cores. You've either got an affinity for Light magic, Dark magic or a combined affinity. But most Dark magic has been outlawed in Britain."

Tom hummed and nodded in understanding.

"So… all Dark is considered 'bad'?" he asked.

"Yeah, and Grey wizards are looked down on because they usually aren't as powerful in light magic. But we have other talents. My mum's a Grey witch, and a Seer, and so is my grandmother, she can see magic. Only Grey witches and wizards ever have the eye. She says I have a talent in divination too. Maybe I even have the Inner Eye, but it's too early to tell yet."

"Your mother can see the future?" Tom asked awed.

Gwen grinned proudly and nodded.

"Say… what does 'mudblood' mean?" Tom asked.  
"I understand it's some sort of insult, but I don't know what it means."

"It means a muggle born," Gwen explained.  
"People like Malfoy hate muggles. They consider everyone having muggle blood in them as tainted and dirty."

"Hence, mudblood," Tom finished, scowling.

Even here, he was looked down on. Tom wondered bitterly if he was doomed to be a freak and an outcast for the rest of his life.


	2. The Sorting

They were led through the large hallway of the castle and up the stairs to where professor Dumbledore was waiting for them in front of large double doors. The auburn haired teacher smiled in a friendly manner, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Welcome at Hogwarts! My name is professor Dumbledore," Dumbledore greeted them cheerfully.  
"This castle will be your home for the next seven-"

His little speech was interrupted by two girls in the back screaming. Tom turned his head to find out what was going on and saw the two girls, one with mouse blond hair and freckles and a girl with spindly brown hair and bony limbs, sitting on the floor, their backs to each other and their heads pressed together. It took Tom a moment before he realized their hair was tangled together in a big knot.

Tom cocked his head curiously when he noticed both girls were crying. It was curious how something like that had happened, but Tom guessed that with magic, any of the students near them could have pulled it off. A little petty, in his opinion, but depending on the reason why this was done to them, it would do. Tom wondered if he could learn that spell. Dumbledore sighed and took out his wand, quickly untangling the two girls with a swing of his wand.

"I see our live-in poltergeist is ready for the new schoolyear as well. Peeves."

With a 'pop', a little man appeared floating over the heads of the students. He had black hair, wickedly slanted, orange eyes and was dressed in loud, outlandish clothes including a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. 'Peeves' was cackling loudly, holding his belly in cheer as he floated on his back. Professor Dumbledore's lips twitched as he looked up at the poltergeist.

"At least give the children a chance to get used to their surroundings before you start terrorizing them," he called out to Peeves.  
"You might have traumatized these poor girls and they haven't even been sorted yet."

Peeves stopped laughing and stared straight at Dumbledore.

"Party pooper!" he suddenly yelled, making several of the first years jump in fright.  
"Dumb, dumb, Dumberbore! Party pooper Dumberbore!"

And with that, he disappeared with another loud 'pop'.

"Well then," Dumbledore sighed, looking tired all of a sudden.  
"As I was saying earlier: Hogwarts will be your home for come seven years, and your House will be like your family. There are four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"Now, behind this door, you will be sorted into one of these Houses and that will be your place until you graduate. Wear the colours with pride and work hard because any wrongs committed will not only yours but blemish all of your housemates as well."

Tom frowned. He didn't think that was entirely fair, to punish everyone in your house for mistakes made by a few. Dumbledore glanced at him and raised a brow, but he didn't comment on Tom's sour look and instead kept talking.

"Good behaviour and commitment to your studies will be awarded with House Points, while bad behaviour and slacking will take them away," the professor explained.  
"At the end of the year, there will be a House Cup awarded to the House with the most points. So I'd say do your best and work hard!"

When he was done with his speech, Dumbledore turned away from them and swung the large doors open, marching the 80+ first year students into the Great Hall. For the second time in his life, Tom was truly awed. Four long tables stood at either side of them as they walked through the aisle in the middle.

The ceiling of the room was enchanted to show the darkening sky outside. Tom could even see the moon and some stars between grey clouds. The many floating candles hovering over the tables were quite impressive as well.

On a podium in the far back of the room stood the teacher's table, with in the middle a balding, old man that almost seemed to drown in his robes. Tom suspected that that was the Headmaster.

Before the teacher's table stood a single stool, with an old, ragged hat on it. Tom scowled at it, wondering what its purpose was as they came to a halt before the podium.

Tom got his answer as the hat suddenly moved and a face appeared in the seams. It's raggedy mouth opened and the hat did something that Tom had never expected a hat to do. It started singing.

The hat sang about how the four founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, had built the school to educate young wizards and witches. He told them how all four of them had admired different traits in people and how they decided to divide the youngsters in separate Houses to better cultivate their chosen talents.

The hat sang about how Gryffindor had taken him off his head and made him a brain so he could be the one to sort the children. And lastly, he sang about the fallout the founders had with Slytherin and how the Lord of Snakes had left.

When he was finished, Dumbledore walked up to it and took it off the stool, a parchment in his other hand with most likely all names of the new students listed on it. Tom straightened up. Finally, it would start, and Tom would soon know where he'd belong. Then, at last, his new live would begin.

"Now, when I call your name, you'll come up here and sit on the stool," he started off.  
"I will then place the Sorting Hat on your head and he'll tell us where you belong."

An excited whisper went through the crowd, but it died down as soon as Dumbledore lifted the list to his face to start reading.

"Abbot, John!"

A boy with dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes stumbled forward and nearly fell over his own feet as he went up the steps. Several of the older students chuckled, so did some of the first years. One of them was a girl with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. Tom rolled his eyes and watched as the hat was put on the boy's head and slid over his eyes. Again, several of the older kids snickered and Tom wondered if they were idiots. The hat was adult size, he bet that the thing fell over their faces too when they sat in that chair.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called out loudly.

The boy took off the hat and rushed over to the yellow and black table that was cheering him on loudly while his robes took on his House's colours. Tom raised a brow at that and looked down at his own black robes. So they'd alter themselves magically? That was really handy.

"Amber, Kate!"

A brunette girl with two pigtails skipped forward and sat down on the stool. The hat was placed on her head for barely a second before it already called out 'Gryffindor', making the house in red and gold burst out in cheers. She grinned and ran over.

"Andrews, Julie!" was the next person called forward and she too ended up in Hufflepuff.

Next up was "Avery, Emidius!" the first Slytherin. The silver and green table cheered a lot more dignified than the other two, most of them simply clapped and smiled, in fact.

"Black, Artemis!" Dumbledore called.

The young black haired girl walked up with a confident air around her as she sat down in the stool, her bright green eyes surveying the room in front of her before the hat was placed on her cropped head. It took a good twenty seconds before the hat seemed to have made a decision.

"Slytherin!"

Black smiled brightly and walked briskly towards the applauding table and sat down next to a girl who looked a lot like her, but older and with sharp dark grey eyes that seemed to pierce through everyone and anyone. Gwen leaned closer to Tom when she saw him look at the two girls.

"Walburga Black. The older sister of Artemis and Alphard," she said.  
"She's engaged with her second cousin on her father's side, Orion Black. The contract was made immediately after Orion was born. I know because last year, my dad tried to set up a contract for me with Orion. He really wants a Black, and Orion is the Heir of the family."

Tom frown deepened at that and looked back at the girls, who were now being joined by Alphard Black as the boy had also been sorted into Slytherin. He and Gwen looked back towards the front just as "Braden, Terrence!" was sorted as the first Ravenclaw.

"Carp, Trivia!" also made Ravenclaw.

A few more 'C's were called after that, all of whom either ended in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor before they reached the 'D' with "Dennis, Joshua!", who was on the round side, with blushing chubby cheeks and strawberry blond hair. The hat was on his head for about half a minute before sending him to the Slytherin table.

"Diggory, Rosetta!" the girl had long blond hair in two ponytails and kind blue eyes. The hat barely even touched her head before sending her to the Hufflepuff table.

"The Diggories and the Abbots have been Hufflepuffs for as long as anyone can remember. It goes back for generations, maybe even all the way back to the founding," Gwen explained to Tom while the sorting continued.  
"Same with the Blacks and the Malfoys all going to Slytherin and the Weasleys and the Potters in Gryffindor. The Lovegoods have never been anywhere else than Ravenclaw, and my grandmother's a Lovegood. My mum's maiden name is Juniper, and they've been Ravenclaw for three generation straight too, so I guess I have a chance to end there too."

Tom looked over to the Gryffindor table, seeing indeed a collection of redheads sitting there and talking cheerfully. Septimus and Sexta were two of the loudest every time a new student ended up in the House of the brave and Quintin was sitting next to the dark haired boy Tom remembered was named Charlus and had a shiny pin with HB on it.

"Gladstone, Gerald!" Dumbledore called forward.

The boy was fat. There was no other way to say it as the dark haired freckled boy waddled over to the stool and sat down. The hat ended on his head and within five seconds he was dismissed towards Hufflepuff.

"Hornby, Olive!"

The girl that had laughed at Abbot, with her dark brown hair and blue eyes stepped up the podium proudly and sat down, smirking. She stared towards the Slytherin table, eyeing the silver and green table confidently. It stayed quietly for about half a minute before the hat made up its mind.

"Ravenclaw!"

Hornby scowled as her tie and pin took on the blue and bronze colours of Ravenclaw and walked over to the cheering house. Tom snorted at the girl's obvious displeasure and shook his head.

"Looks like she didn't get what she wanted," he commented amused.

"The Hornbies are a Ravenclaw family too, but with a Slytherin every now and again," Gwen told him.  
"I think her father was a Slytherin, but since no one knows who that would be, I can't say for sure. My parents went to school with them. Mum was a Housemate with Desideria Hornby, but they didn't get along much."

"Jackson, Leona!" Dumbledore called.

The girl had short red hair that looked like she had stuck her fingers in the power joint. Tom could hear a few Slytherins snickering as Artemis Black turned her hair to match the newly sorted redhead. When the hat called out Gryffindor, Jackson actually squeaked in happiness and ran towards the cheering table. She had to return to the front with burning cheeks and under thunderous laughter to hand the hat back to a chuckling Dumbledore.

"I don't see the appeal of Gryffindor," Tom muttered as the next name was called forward.  
"The way the books portrayed it, they're brash and superficial. That's the way I see it."

"I guess they can be," Gwen agreed chuckling.  
"Septimus definitely is, and Sexta and Clara are too. I never really talked much with the others. They're much older than me. Octavian is nice though. We get along."

"It would be bad if you couldn't get along with any of your relatives I suppose," Tom muttered.

They finally reached the letter 'K', starting with "Karim, Jezebel!" a girl with Arabic roots and dark, almond shaped eyes. She walked with a superior air around her that made Tom narrow his eyes in distrust and was quickly send towards Slytherin, who welcomed her with a heartfelt applause.

"Knight, Hope!" Dumbledore called.

The girl walked up eagerly, an excited grin playing on her pale lips as she sat down on the stool gracefully. The hat took a long time on her. One minute passed by and she still hadn't been sorted. Then two, and two and a half. People were already getting nervous at the utter silence.

"Slytherin!" the hat eventually roared.

The Black twins jumped up from their seats and cheered louder than even the Weasleys had been doing until now. Hope Knight smiled happily and walked over, hugging Alphard first before taking a seat next to Artemis and hugging her.

"Knight, Seth!" her twin was called up.

Seth sat down with a confident smirk playing on his lips. The hat barely even touched his hair before once again calling a loud "Slytherin!" sending the Black twins and the platinum blond girl in loud cheers once more. Tom actually winced at the volume as more Slytherins seemed to join.

"What's up with that reaction?" he grumbled annoyed.

"Twins are very special in the magical world," Gwen told him smiling.  
"They actually share one soul with each other and by extension also a magical core. They're more powerful because they can tap into each other's magic. Usually, they also share a soulmate with each other and considering the four of them are always together…"

Tom nodded in understanding. He could guess what that meant.

"You seem to know a lot about all these things," he noted.

"Adjutor and Tertius are twins and share one soulmate in their cousin Fleamont Potter, and Mike, Tyke and Dennis are triplets. My family is extremely proud," Gwen shrugged.  
"And I know about the Blacks because my dad wants me to marry one. After failing to get Orion, he tried to snatch Alphard's contract, but that one's been promised to Hope Knight, just like Artemis has been promised to Seth Knight."

"Because they're soulmates?" Tom asked.

"Soulmates aren't always romantically involved. It just means they are connected on a deeper level or something, but in their case, I guess it is," Gwen replied.  
"I don't mind at all though. I prefer not to be betrothed and choose for myself who I marry."

"I agree with that."

They turned back to the sorting just as "Lawrence, Andrew!" was called forward and dismissed towards Ravenclaw. The kid was lanky and had light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He looked overly confident, much in the same way Tom had seen in that Karim girl earlier.

"Lupin, Lyall!" Dumbledore called.

A boy with brown hair and brown eyes walked up the platform and sat down on the chair. He was thrumming with excitement, a wide grin spread on his lips as he stared towards Gryffindor. Clara Weasley looked back at him and smiled shyly, waving at the boy.

"They're engaged," Gwen explained just as the hat called out "Gryffindor!" and sent the red and gold table in loud cheers.  
"She's the only one in our family who is. My dad hasn't gotten a hold of any contracts for me yet and uncle Nigel and aunt Diana don't believe in arranged marriages."

"I guess your cousins are lucky, then," Tom muttered.

"Depending on what you call lucky, I guess," Gwen chuckled.  
"None of them have found a partner yet, and Primus is 24."

"Still young enough," Tom dismissed shrugging.

"Malfoy, Abraxas!" was called up next.

The arrogant looking blonde walked up the stage and sat down regally on the stool. His dark blue eyes flitted over to the Slytherin table just as Dumbledore walked up to him with the hat. Just like it had done with Seth Knight, the hat barely even touched his hair before sending him towards the cheering Slytherin table where he took a seat between Hope Knight and Jezebel Karim.

"Michaels, George!"

A dark haired boy with dark grey eyes walked up and sat down. The hat was planted firmly on top of his head and stayed there for all of three seconds before he was dismissed towards Gryffindor where he was welcomed with open arms and took the seat next to Lupin.

Tom looked around himself. The sorting was losing his interest quick. He observed the different Houses curiously and wondered where he'd end up. He had hoped for Slytherin before he arrived here, he still sort of did, but the way Gwen put it, it seemed like he didn't have much of a chance.

"Wat House do you think you'll be going?" he asked the red haired girl instead.

"I don't see myself ending up in Gryffindor to be honest," Gwen muttered shrugging.  
"My cousins will be disappointed, but I think I'll be in Ravenclaw. What about you?"

"Ravenclaw too," Tom told her.  
"I would have thought Slytherin, but if they only let in those grand families with big names, an orphan like me won't stand a chance."

"You never know," Gwen told him smiling.  
"But at least if you go to Ravenclaw, we'd both have a friend already."

Tom chuckled and nodded in agreement. He'd never had a friend before. In the orphanage, everyone was always afraid of his 'powers' and considered him the spawn of the devil. Tom winced slightly at the memory of the exorcisms the matron had tried on him over the years, but he quickly shook it off. He was here to become great and powerful. In this place of magic, he would find where he belonged and he would climb to the top, stand above everyone who ever dared to look down on him.

"Riddle, Tom!" Dumbledore called his name.

Smiling at Gwen as she whispered him some encouragements, he strode up the steps and towards the old stool. He sat down fluently, letting his calculating gaze move through the crowd in front of him. He paused when he met bright green eyes at the Slytherin table. Artemis was watching him curiously, her bright green eyes almost being a source of light as she stared innocently his way. Then, his vision was cut off with the hat falling over his eyes.

 _"_ _My, my, what have we here?"_ a scratchy old voice asked inside of his head.  
 _"You are quite the unique case, aren't you? Well, let's see. Brave, but not reckless or heroic in nature. Apathetic towards most. No Gryffindor or Hufflepuff for you that much is certain. You are very smart, and you thirst more knowledge, something that will bring you success in Ravenclaw. But you seek knowledge not for the sake of knowledge itself. I see. You want power above all. No more weakness, hmm? Such ambitions. Be careful not to let them burn you, child. Ah, what else could you be but a-"_

"Slytherin!"

The green and silver table applauded politely. All of the students watched their newest member curiously as he approached. He nodded towards the other first years and sat down next to Alphard Black, who nodded politely back. Across from them, Hope smiled sweetly towards Tom before continuing her hushed conversation with Artemis.

"Rosenberg, Vanity!" was next and ended up in Gryffindor before "Rosier, Michael!" was sent to Slytherin and ended up sitting on Tom's other side. "Rudderfort, Coral!" was send off to Ravenclaw and "Sandberg, Ellis!" and "Selwyn, Mary!" were the new Slytherin girls and sat down close to Karim.

"Song, Kim!" was an Asian boy and was quickly dismissed off to Hufflepuff while "Sutton, Jason!" ended up in Ravenclaw. "Tate, Summer!" joined the house of yellow and black.

"So, Tom Riddle, is it?" Rosier asked him suddenly.  
"What do you think about all that talk about a war in the mainland?"

"I think they should act instead of talk," Tom replied annoyed.

He knew the boy was trying to figure out whether Tom was 'mudblood' in a subtle way by asking him about recent happening in the magical world. It was quite insulting to think it would work. He'd read up on the Wizarding World after all.

"If they're scared of some Dark Lord gaining power, they should confront him before things get bad. Also, you won't learn anything about how 'pure' my blood is by asking something like that. The muggles have been worrying about a possible war too. But I guess _you_ don't bother learning about them even if it might impact us as well."

The boy blushed in embarrassment and turned away from Tom, deciding to talk to Avery and Dennis instead. Artemis laughed quietly and shook her head as she looked at Tom.

"Don't be too hard on the poor bloke," she said.  
"The Rosiers are looking for good candidates for their daughters. They've got three of them."

"I guess I should be honoured to be considered a possibility then?" Tom asked dryly.  
"I prefer to marry on my own terms. We're too young to consider finding a partner yet. How will you know you'll love them still in ten years?"

"How do you know you'll love them in ten years if you're already twenty?" Alphard asked.  
"Marriage for families like ours is politics. It has nothing to do with love."

"Mum and dad didn't love each other when they married," Artemis shrugged.  
"But they do now. Enough, at least. I guess four kids does that to you."

Tom nodded absently and looked back towards the front just as Gwen was called up to be sorted. The hat barely stayed on her head longer than five seconds before coming to a decision.

"Ravenclaw!" it called out, making the blue and bronze table erupt in cheers.

Tom grinned as he caught his friends eye and she smiled back warmly. As Tom looked over, he noticed the other Weasleys at the Gryffindor table scowl in displeasure at Gwen's placing. He frowned. What did it matter where she was placed? They were her family and should be happy for her.

"Weasley, Octavian!"

The nervous looking, freckled boy slowly walked up. He smiled shakily at his brothers and sister when a loud hoot of encouragement was given from the lion table on the other side of the hall. The hat was quickly dropped on his head and stayed there for mere seconds.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat called, making the table next to the Slytherins cheer and applaud again.

"What!" they heard a girl's voice coming from Gryffindor.

Tom and the others around him looked over, finding Sexta Weasley standing up from her seat, her hands firmly planted on the table as she looked to the front, her face completely red in anger.

"What's her problem?" Malfoy muttered scowling.

"She's angry because the newest Weasleys have common sense," Seth chuckled.  
"Ravenclaw. I guess there is still hope for them after all."

This earned him some chuckles from his fellow housemates, and even Tom couldn't help but smile.

"Yaxley, Megan!" Dumbledore called, ignoring the outburst of the red haired fifth year completely.

The girl walking up had long brown hair and dark blue eyes. She had high cheekbones and full pink lips. Tom supposed she was pretty, but he disliked the arrogant glint in her eyes and the proud smirk once she was sorted into Slytherin. She strode over confidently and pushed Karim out of the way before taking her place next to Malfoy, making the boy and Hope Knight laugh and the Black twins and Seth Knight chuckle amused while Karim glared at her.

"Young, Lewis!" was the last to be sorted. He took a little while, about a minute and a half before the hat called out a booming "Gryffindor!" making the golden and red table once again cheer loudly as the brunette joined them.

. . . . .

"First years! First years gather around!" a dark haired boy with a shiny silver badge with a 'P' on it yelled to gather the first year Slytherins around her.

He was accompanied by a dark girl with black hair, probably the other prefect. Tom hadn't seen either of them at the table, they probably had been sitting at the other side.

"Follow us!"

Tom and the other first year Slytherins followed the two prefects. They went down some stairs and were lead to the dungeons. Tom scowled in confusion. He sincerely hoped that they didn't expect them all to sleep in some dingy basement. After some time, they arrived at a wall and he heard the boy trying to get their attention.

"The password is 'Morgana's Dagger'. Don't forget it or you'll be sleeping outside until someone passes you by and shows pity," he said.

The wall slid open, giving them the room to enter the common room. When Tom walked in, he was pleasantly surprised that he wouldn't be staying in a basement at all. The place looked very cosy, with black seats all over the place and crackling fires. The whole common room was glooming in green light due to the skylight that showed the bottom of the lake above them.

"The other Houses sometimes feel bad for us for being stuck down here, but what they don't know is that we have the most beautiful rooms of all," the girl prefect said proudly.  
"We're right under the Black Lake and sometimes you can see mermaids swim by. Those prats in their towers can't say the same, can they?"

There was some laughter among the first years and Tom smiled as well. This place was the most magical he had ever seen. Better even than the enchanted roof and the floating candles in the Great Hall if you asked him.

"Boys to the left and girls to the right!" the male prefect told them.

"Because girls are always right!" Artemis Black exclaimed laughing as she pulled Hope Knight with her towards their dorms.

Alphard Black, Seth Knight and Abraxas Malfoy were softly snickering at the exclamation and the dark haired boy shook his head in amusement.

"I just let her delude herself," Alphard told the other two.  
"It's not worth the fighting."

"I hear you," Seth agreed with a chuckle.

They started making their own way over to the left side where their dorm was situated and Tom followed them, along with Dennis, Avery and Rosier. They entered a room with seven four-poster beds hung with deep-green velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up and too tired to say much else, they all put on their pyjamas and climbed into their beds.


	3. The Potions Master

**Some parts in this chapter have been loaned for an undetermined amount of time from Gittiekittie's _A silver and green lion,_ because copying it with permission isn't stealing :)**

* * *

"There! Look!"

"Behind the blond one!"

"Is that the Slytherin mudblood?"

"Look at his clothes! He's definitely not a pureblood!"

Whispers followed Tom from the moment he left his common room the next day. They were in shrill contrast with the silence that awaited him with his classmates. The other Slytherins didn't talk much to him at all. He had been sitting alone at the table in the Great Hall until Hope Knight decided to join him and start some light conversation. She was joined by her twin for a short moment, who introduced himself and told Tom to ignore the 'Supremacist prats' before turning back towards Malfoy and the Black twins. It was obvious they didn't like him much, and they were close friends with the Knights.

That was the reason why he was walking a bit behind his classmates at the moment, looking around himself a bit bored. He didn't really need to focus on how they were going because he had a photographic memory. He understood that it would be hard for most other kids around though since it was a very large and magical castle. The ghosts, he had noticed, were no help at all and it was always a nasty shock when they swept through you. And then of course, there was Peeves. The Poltergeist was always somewhere in the castle scaring first years or teasing the older students, he would pull rugs from under your feet, or sneak up behind you and grab your nose, screaming "GOT YOUR CRONK!"

But Tom didn't really care for all that. He stayed out of the way of the ghosts, remembered all the little tricks and traps of the castle and Peeves hadn't bothered him at all yet. He did care a great deal about the lessons themselves though, especially when he realized there was more behind it than waving your wand and speaking in Latin.

Every Tuesday evening they had Astronomy where they had to study the night sky and study the names of all different stars. The Black twins had laughed about that and drawn up a family tree during first class on their star charts. Turned out that most all of their relatives were named after stars and constellations.

Three times a week they had History of Magic with an old, greying wizard called Professor Binns. They learned about the Goblin Wars and the Migration of the Giant Colonies. It only got better since they had that class together with Ravenclaw, so he got to sit with Gwen and catch up while they wrote their notes.

But the worst class had to be Herbology, taught by Professor Beery, who was overly cheerful and plump. It was probably the one class Tom hadn't immediately taken to and actually struggled to keep up. Plants had never really been his strong suit and it seemed that everything he touched in the green house died.

Charms was fun too and again together with Ravenclaw. The teacher, Professor Shaquin, was a stern witch with her dark hair in a tight bun on the back of her head and glasses perched on top of her hooked nose. She made sure they all knew she wouldn't let them get away with messing around before starting the lesson.

Professor Dumbledore, head of Gryffindor, had been entirely different again. For starters, he was some ten minutes late in his own class with the excuse that the teacher's bathroom had vanished just when he needed it desperately and he had to search half the castle before he found its new location. Several of the students, mostly Gryffindors who they shared the class with, laughed at the story. Only then did Dumbledore start the class with a short explanation of what Transfiguration was.

"Transfiguration is one of the most complex an dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," he told them.  
"Anyone messing around in my class and will not come back. You have been warned."

He gave the Black twins and Malfoy a cool look before he turned his desk into a pig and back again. To Tom's disappointment they weren't going to start with turning furniture into animals. After making a lot of complicated notes they were given a match and tried to turn it into a needle. At the end of class he had only managed to change the colour of his match and make it a bit more pointy. The only other who had succeeded that much was Hope Knight, and Dumbledore had complimented the both of them for their good work before sending them off to their next class.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was given by an elderly woman who had a short temper and a no-nonsense attitude called Professor Merrythought. Tom thought the name to be a bit ironic because he didn't think she thought about anything 'merry' when teaching them at all.

After classes, Tom decided to go to the library and start on his homework already. He knew the other Slytherins where going to socialize in the common room but after three days of being ignored by his class mates he decided to do something useful with his time.

With his arms full of books Tom walked through the library, looking for a table to sit. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings and let a surprised groan escape his lips when he bumped into someone, making the books flying out all directions, ending shattered on the ground.

"Excuse me," he muttered, bending down to pick up the books.

"Lost in thought there, Tom?" Gwen asked him amused.  
"I guess I was too, otherwise we wouldn't have bumped. Are you here to study? You can join my cousin and I."

Tom looked over to the occupied table, finding Octavian Weasley sitting there surrounded by large stacks of books. The boy smiled shyly and waved at him as Tom nodded in greeting. He turned back towards Gwen, who was looking at him expectantly.

"If you don't mind, then gladly," Tom told her politely.

"Good. We were just getting started on our Charms essay," his friend told him.

After they had worked for charms together the three of them had gotten to talk. Octavian was very shy, since he was the youngest of a big family. None of his relatives thought he was anything special, because whatever he did, at least one of his siblings had done it before him and usually better too. They had been really interested in Tom's story about the orphanage, and both were horrified and angry that the matron never did anything against the bullying. Before they knew it, curfew had been close and they had to run to be in their common room in time.

With the new friends he had, Tom had sat down at the breakfast table that morning, smiling for the first time. Maybe, just maybe, things would be different after all.

"Someone is in a good mood." Hope greeted him, sitting down next to him.

"It's a nice day," Tom responded pleasantly.

"That, it is," the platinum blonde agreed.

Hope had sat with Tom every now and again when she noticed he didn't join the others and had made it her task to cheer him up after a rather daft day. Today was the first day she met the boy in a cheery mood.

"Let's hope it stays like that. We're having Potions with the Lions first thing," Hope told him.

That really helped put a damper on Tom's mood. The Gryffindor students liked to tease him about his status as 'outcast'. They asked things like if he was even too Dark for his own house and laughed, calling him "poor and evil, the worst combination."

Potions, Tom decided was the weirdest class of all. Not because of the contents, it reminded him a lot of chemistry in muggle schools, but with cauldrons and magical fires, but their teacher, his own head of Slytherin, Professor Slughorn. The man had light brown, almost ginger hair and a large moustache that reminded Tom of a whale. Actually, a lot about the fat man did. He was all smiles and was chatting up Malfoy instead of starting the class. He only looked up when Lyall Lupin cleared his throat annoyed.

"Oh!" Slughorn exclaimed, beady eyes growing comically wide as if he only just noticed there were other students in the room.

The man started to smile brightly and walked over to where Lupin was seated next to Young and behind Michaels. The boy smiled back a bit uncertain, worried that he'd done something wrong by demanding the teacher's attention.

"Young Mr. Lupin, I presume? How is your father, still working at the ministry?" Slughorn asked eagerly.

"Y-yes, sir. He just got a big promotion last month too," the brunette replied nervously.

"Good, good. Tell him congratulations and that we should meet up sometimes," the professor smiled.

Lupin nodded jerkily and gave a sigh of relief as Slughorn moved back to the front of the class. His eyes were twinkling in a way Tom had only seen happening with Professor Dumbledore and just like with the Transfigurations teacher, it made chills go down his spine. Several students jumped in their chairs as Slughorn clapped his hands together.

"Pop quiz!" he announced cheerfully.  
"Let's see how many of you opened their books this summer."

Most all of the Gryffindor students groaned unhappily, as did some of the Slytherins. He noticed Alphard Black and Seth Knight shuffling down in their seats while their twin sisters high fived, grinning widely.

"Now, who knows what ingredients you need to brew an Forgetfulness Potion?" he asked.

Tom held up his hand, as two rows before him, Artemis and Hope did the same. They were the only three in the whole class who did, and Professor Slughorn seemed to glow with pride as he pointed at Hope to answer the question.

"Lethe River Water, Mistletoe berries and Valerian springs, sir," the girl said.

"Very good miss Knight!" Slughorn complimented.  
"Five points to Slytherin for not forgetting."

The man laughed at his own terrible joke, with a few of the more nervous students joining in weakly as to not hurt their teacher's feelings. Tom just rolled his eyes.

"Next question, then," the Professor spoke as he was finished.  
"What are the effects of the Wiggelweld Potion."

Again, Tom, Hope and Artemis were the only ones to raise their arms, and this time, Professor Slughorn let the Black girl answer.

"It awakens a person from magically induced sleep, like from the Draught of the Living Death," the dark haired girl answered proudly.

"And?" Slughorn asked teasingly, making the girl frown.

"Cures minor damage, professor," Alphard Black replied quickly, smirking at his sister.

"Indeed it does, another 5 points to Slytherin!" the man exclaimed happily.  
"Last one: What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

For the third time, Tom raised his arm as Artemis and Hope did the same. Most of the other students were now just watching them instead of even bothering. It made Tom scowl. Why wouldn't they even try if there was a reward to win with a right answer?

"Mr. Riddle! Why don't you give it a shot?" Slughorn asked him grinning.

"Monkshood and Wolfsbane are the same plant, sir," he replied easily.  
"Also known as Aconite and is the main potion ingredient to the newly developed potion to alleviate the worst symptoms of Lycanthropy, but can't cure it."

"Another 5 points for answering correctly, and 5 more for knowing about the recent development of Wolfsbane Potion. Good job Mr. Riddle."

After that, the lesson finally started with Slughorn explaining to them all how to make a proper Cure for Boils before pairing them all up and setting them to work. Tom ended up together with Seth Knight, who smiled at him a bit before grabbing his potions book and reading through the instructions. Tom had memorized most of the entire book and just set to work without the need of opening his own.

"Why don't you have your book open, Mr. Riddle?" Slughorn asked sternly.

The man was standing right behind Tom and the boy wondered how a man that big could be that silent. Tom shrugged and continued crushing the snake fangs into a fine powder, ignoring the fact that the whole class was staring at him.

"I remember it," he replied calmly.

"Just like that? What if you forget something?" Slughorn asked.

"That's never happened to me before," Tom answered honestly.  
"I have a photographic memory, Professor. I never forget anything."

"How curious!" the man laughed.  
"In that case, continue on, my boy! I'm eager to see the result."

Tom smiled at him and nodded his head. Professor Slughorn grinned back before turning to Seth and telling him to keep going as well. After that, he walked to the next pair, which were Abraxas and Alphard. He complimented them as well, but warned them not to add too much horned slugs to the concoction.

"You really remember everything?" Seth asked curiously.

"Mostly, yes," Tom replied nodding.  
"But everyone has it in them. Any information that stays in your head for a few minutes, stays there for the rest of your life. You just need to know how to find it."

"And how do you find it?" the blonde wanted to know.  
"I always forget everything. What's your trick?"

"I have mind-files," the dark haired boy replied smiling innocently before turning back to his work.


	4. Teacher's Pet

After that first Potions Class, it was very clear Slughorn had taken a shine to Tom, much to the annoyance of the Gryffindors and the jealousy of some of the Slytherins. Tom was just proud at how well he was doing. Not only at Potions, but also at Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy and DADA. In fact, he only had trouble with Herbology and flying. During their first flying class, he couldn't even get his broom off the ground, and to make it worse, he had the class with Gryffindor.

At the moment, he was studying on his own in the common room. He would have gone with Gwen and Octavian, but they had been strung along with their family for the day. Septimus and Clara Weasley had pulled them out of the library, giving Tom the evil eye as they did. Knowing Gryffindors, they'd most likely spent the rest of the day telling his two friends that Slytherins were bad and they shouldn't talk to him.

"Hello!"

Tom jumped up at the sudden voice next to him and looked up to find Artemis Black smiling down at him. The boy cocked his head in curiosity at the girl. Neither of the Black's had tried to talk to him at all during the past three weeks school was already going on. He wondered what reason she had to come to talk to him now.

"We were just going to study Charms a bit, and Hope was maybe hoping if you wanted to join us," she said, blushing a bit.  
"We noticed you're always on your own or with those Weasleys."

"And you felt bad for me?" Tom asked dryly.  
"Don't worry, your treatment is nothing unusual."

He looked back down on his papers. He was about halfway on his Charms essay already. Another half hour and he'd be done. He heard the girl sigh and shuffle a bit on her place. Scowling annoyed, he looked back up at her, glaring.

"I don't need your pity," he told her harshly.

The girl stopped fidgeting and glared at Tom. Her hands were on her hips as her eyes and her hair suddenly turned red. It grew several inches straight upwards, making it look like fire. Tom stared at the sudden change in shock, having entirely forgotten she and her brother could do that. He still didn't know how they did it either, he realized annoyed.

"I don't do pity!" Artemis hissed at him.  
"And for your information, neither does Hope! So you get off your lazy arse and bloody join us!"

With that, she turned around, sticking her nose in the air as she went. Tom stared as her appearance slowly bled back to what it had been before. Sighing in defeat, he packed his books together and followed her towards the little group of five sitting together. Artemis had retaken her seat between Hope and Alphard, with Malfoy sitting on Hope's other side and Seth sitting next to him. Not looking at any of them, he sat down next to Alphard Black and pulled out his quill again.

"Glad you could join us, Tom," Hope said smiling.

"Careful, Hope. I think Riddle is allergic to nice gestures," Artemis said snarky, glaring at Tom.

Tom glared right back and put his quill back down.

"You were the one ignoring me for the past three weeks," he pointed out annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I must have missed you approaching us," the dark haired girl growled in reply.  
"It's a two way street you know. You pretty much ignored us too!"

That did it to shut Tom up of course. She was right, and that surprised Tom maybe the most of all. He had never been wrong before, but he couldn't fault them for not coming to him if he never went to them either. Damn her for making actual sense!

"Did you two already have an argument?" Hope asked surprised.  
"I just asked you to invite him over to our study group!"

"Don't blame me! He said he 'didn't want any pity from us'!" Artemis shot back.

"Pity? Why should we pity you?" Alphard asked Tom confused.

"Maybe because he wears second hand robes and hangs out with Weasleys," Malfoy suggested smirking.

Tom glowered at him and Hope immediately struck out, slapping the back of his head for the comment and making the boy shout in pain and surprise. Malfoy pouted at her as he rubbed the sore spot.

"I don't see why we should pity him. Hope's the injured one," Seth pointed out shrugging.

Tom's eyes immediately darted back towards Hope. He noticed how her foot was elevated and her ankle was extremely swollen. It looked really painful.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was stupid, really," Hope muttered, blushing a bit.

"You mean _they_ were stupid," Alphard said dryly.

"Some Ravenclaw kid got jealous and hit a stinging hex on her leg to make her trip," Seth explained.  
"It got out of hand, and now Hope's too stubborn to go see the nurse."

"I don't need it," the blond girl muttered stubbornly.

Tom frowned and took out his wand, going over the healing spells he'd read about. The whole group was staring at him curiously as he walked over to the blond and kneeled down in front of her.

"Why exactly were they jealous?" Tom asked.

"Remember the Transfigurations test we had yesterday?" Hope asked him.  
"The one you and I tied at first place for? Some Ravens said I cheated."

"Which she didn't. Hope's scary good at Transfigurations," Seth told Tom, making his sister blush again.

Tom nodded in understanding and focused on the swollen ankle. The spell he had in mind was a third year and up spell, so he needed to be sure he wouldn't mess it up. Hope had been nice to him before, and Tom liked to think he could be nice back for those rare few who actually took the time to spent time with him.

 _"_ _Repairifors,"_ he muttered.

He watched proudly as the swelling started to go down and stood back up. He gave Hope one of his rare smirks before moving back towards his seat and picking up his charms book again.

"Thanks, Tom!" the girl beamed.

"Consider it an apology for being rude to your friend earlier," he replied.

"That's alright," Artemis waved him off, smiling.  
"I guess I was kind of rude to you too. It's not easy approaching a group when you're alone."

Tom shrugged and refocussed on his essay, the others soon doing the same. To Tom's surprise, it only took about 15 minutes for him to finish instead of the 30 he had guessed earlier, all thanks to the suggestions the others gave each other and him. Once he was done, he talked with his classmates, finding he actually had a few things with them in common.

The very next day, Tom was eager to start with his classes. He and the others had made a bet on who could win the most points in one day, and he was planning on winning. The bet was on two Galleons, or in his case, since he didn't have any money, he'd have to do the homework of the winner for the rest of the week. Which, really didn't bother him as much at all. He had time to spare anyway.

The morning started out with Charms. Tom greeted his two Ravenclaw friends cheerfully and chose to sit next to Gwen, like he did usually. Professor Shaquin strode into the room shortly after he had sat down and glared at the students, shutting them all up immediately. As she started the class, Tom made eye contact with Seth, who smirked at him and winked before turning back to the front. Tom grinned too. Let the games begin.

"Alright!" Professor Shaquin muttered, clapping her hands together as she surveyed the room sternly.  
"Let's see how many of you bothered practicing outside of class. Who can show me a well-preformed Levitation Charm?"

Tom's hand shot up right away, followed by a more hesitant Gwen. When the boy looked around, he noticed Malfoy, the Knight twins, and the Black twins also eagerly hoping to be noticed by the teacher so they could show their spell work and get ahead in the game.

"Mr. Riddle, if you will," Professor Shaquin said.

Tom smiled proudly and flicked his wand, casting the spell. He watched smugly as the feather before him lifted off his desk and several feet into the air, almost touching the ceiling. A small, rare smile crossed the teacher's face as she looked on. When she looked back at Tom, the boy smoothed is smirk into a shy smile and he widened his eyes in a hopeful expression.

"Well done, Mr. Riddle," Shaquin said.  
"I believe you just earned Slytherin 10 points for that perfect demonstration."

"Thank you, professor," Tom said dutifully as he glanced over to the others.

Malfoy and the Blacks were scowling, but the Knight twins seemed very amused. Seth even gave him a thumbs up. Tom chuckled softly and looked back to the front.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked confused.

"We have a bet," Tom replied simply, smirking.  
"Whoever wins the most points for our House wins."

Gwen snorted and shook her head in amusement before turning back to the front where professor Shaquin started explaining a new spell to them. They all immediately started practicing on it. This time, it was Abraxas who had it first, and he too was awarded with 10 points. Only seconds later, Tom succeeded as well and was given 5 more points. Everyone else who did the spell right before the end of class was awarded with 1 point each. The Knights, Blacks, Gwen and Octavian were the only ones who could properly do the spell at the end and were awarded.

Tom packed his stuff together, feeling very good about himself as he walked behind his classmates. Hope and Seth quickly slowed their pace and started walking on either side of him, while the Blacks and Malfoy joined them as well, all chattering cheerfully.

"Wait!"

Tom scowled confused at Gwen's call and looked over his shoulder to see the redhead jog up to them. She was grinning widely as she reached the group of Slytherins. Her face was a little flushed and she smiled shyly at the group of rich pure blood children.

"What is it, Gwen?" Tom asked curiously.

"I want in."

Tom blinked.

"Come again?"

"The bet," Gwen clarified smiling.  
"I want part of it."

"We're betting for money," Malfoy said blankly.

"She can join if she wants, Brax," Hope said, glaring at the boy.

"Yeah! We'll just give her the same rules as Tom," Seth added.  
"Whoever wins just has two to do their homework."

Tom frowned at the way the platinum blond said that, as did Gwen and Hope. Artemis snickered and elbowed the boy in the side.

"You make it sound like we're planning on using them!" she laughed.  
"Don't worry. We might be lazy from time to time, but we don't have any problem with doing our own homework at all. It'd be great if I don't have to, but the way Tom's going with just this one class, I'd say I'll be a couple of Galleons lighter in the end."

"Well, I'm not giving up," Alphard scoffed.

"Neither am I," Hope agreed chuckling.  
"Welcome to the bet, Weasley."

. . . . .

The rest of the day, they all went on earning points and competing in classes. In transfigurations, it were mostly the Knight twins taking a big lead, as professor Dumbledore mostly ignored Tom's outstretched arm, much to the boy's annoyance. They were all given a beetle which they had to turn into a button and Tom was successful, but only third in class. After… yes, Hope and Seth Knight.

Dumbledore was very enthusiastic and awarded both of them with five points for their successful transfiguration before giving Tom a pat on the back for his good work. Tom quickly shook the lingering jealousy off when they left the classroom.

"Don't take it too hard," Artemis spoke up, throwing an arm over Tom's shoulder.  
"Dumbles likes Hope and Seth best from our entire House. Rumour has it he even visited them this summer to try and warm them to Gryffindor more, hoping they might end in his House."

"Their mum's an Animagus, so they really do have a few steps ahead on most," Alphard added, walking on Tom's other side.

"Not on us, mind you," Artemis snickered.

"We're pretty good in Transfigurations too, but we don't work as hard," Alphard said.

"The perks of being born two Metamorphmagi!" Artemis laughed.

"Yeah! Congratulations on getting the spell right before us. Not a lot of people can do that," Alphard finished.

"Guys!" Malfoy called out suddenly.  
"Look at the sandglasses!"

Their entire group stopped in front of the Great Hall, watching the large hourglasses that showed the House points. To their surprise, while Ravenclaw had stood last only that morning, they were now already second after Slytherin.

"I think I'm making a rather nice progress," Gwen said smugly as she walked up to the others.  
"Honestly, I like Defence and Herbology."

. . . . .

Tom started trying even harder during the second part of the day. First, they had DADA, which he easily took first place, followed shortly behind by the Black Twins, who apparently had a much greater knowledge on Dark Magic than anyone else, including a very annoyed Tom and Abraxas. Still, he won some 15 points more than either of them and 20 points more than Abraxas. Surprisingly, neither Hope or Seth won any points in this class, though they were still some of the best.

The last class they had that day was Potions, which, once again, was completely dominated by Tom, followed immediately behind by Hope and Artemis. It was a big bonus that Slughorn liked Tom so much and liked to test his 'Wonderfully infallible memory' as his Head of House liked to put it. Those were by far the easiest points he ever made.

When dinner rolled by, Gwen and Octavian walked by their table and sat down next to Tom. The others easily greeted them, bright, yet tired smiles on their faces as they did. Tom was pleasantly surprised by their acceptance of a supposed 'bloodtraitor family' the two Ravenclaws were part of.

"I got a total of 55 points together," Gwen said smugly.

"50," Hope conceded, smiling appreciatively.  
"I guess that means I'll have to pay up, huh?"

"But to who?" Artemis asked grinning.  
"Not me and Alph, we tied with 30 points each."

"45," Abraxas said shortly.

"I made 35," Seth sighed.  
"What about you, Tom?"

The young boy smiled at them all and leaned back in his seat, his eyes shining with mirth.

"65. Pay up everyone!" he chuckled.

"Bloody Hell!" Seth and Alphard whispered together, their eyes wide in shock.

"I would be upset about losing the money, but I can't because with that kind of score, we'll totally win the House Cup!" Artemis exclaimed.

"That's too early to tell," Hope chuckled.

"Knowing professor Dumbledore, he'll find a reason to take all those points away again," Abraxas muttered bitterly.  
"He only likes you and Seth from our House, Hope. So it'll be up to you to keep him off our backs."

All five kids dug into their robes and took out the promised Galleons, handing them over to a widely grinning Tom. Gwen smiled as well.

"I guess I just got myself double assignments, huh?" she chuckled.

"I'll proofread both mine and yours," Tom offered.  
"You know what? I'll proofread anyone's who wants me to."

"Thanks! I could use a second opinion," Artemis replied grinning.

"Aren't I doing that already?" Hope asked, fake hurt.

"Yeah, but he can do it too, just to be sure. I like second opinions."


	5. Christmas

**One more chapter and year one will be done.**

* * *

The Slytherin common room was eerily empty the first day of the Christmas holidays. Tom was the only first year staying behind, as all of his classmates were eagerly talking about vacations they would be going on with their rich families. From second year and third year, absolutely no one was left and only two fourth year girls were still present. Furthermore, one fifth year boy was stuck with his nose in the books, one sixth year and three seventh years staying behind to study for their NEWT's. All in all, the dungeons were unusually quiet.

Tom had been quick to leave the place behind to join Gwen in the library for the day. Her parents were out of the country for the time being, and she had refused the offer of Octavian to join her cousins. Tom didn't want to tell her of course, but he was incredibly grateful he wouldn't have to be alone for the next two weeks. Yes, he had been alone for his whole life, but since his arrival at Hogwarts, he had grown increasingly used to having people around who actually liked his presence.

"Good morning Tom," the redhead greeted smiling.

"Good morning," the boy replied, a small smile breaking through as well.  
"Have you already started on your Charms essay? I was thinking we could do it together."

"Not yet, I'm struggling with the Potions essay…" the girl replied, blushing a bit.

Tom chuckled and held out his hand, smiling kindly at her.

"Let me see," he offered.

Grinning in relief, Gwen handed it over and watched as Tom's dark eyes flew over the parchment, reading the contents very quickly. Tom sighed and handed it back.

"It's pretty good, just add the dangers of taking too much and some detailed descriptions of the ingredients and their other uses," he said.

"Thanks!" Gwen said grinning.

"No problem. Now how about Charms?"

. . . . .

The first week went by without much interesting happening. The older years teased Tom for being the only one in the dorms who wasn't able to visit Hogsmeade, but the boy couldn't care less about that place. He didn't think the village was any interesting. He didn't have any money to spent anyway, so what wold he be doing there? Standing in the snow, watching through shop windows? I think not.

He preferred spending his time reading books. He was already on third level with duelling books in the library and he had a greater knowledge on dark creatures than even the seventh years in his House. When he did go outside, on Gwen's insistence, they usually ended up at the Black Lake, he with a copy of Curses and Counter curses, and Gwen with a sketchbook on her lap.

"I think we best get ready for dinner," Gwen suddenly spoke up.  
"Soon the older kids are back from Hogsmeade and I want to be ahead of them."

"Alright," Tom agreed.  
"Let's go past my dorm first. I want to put my book away."

"Then we should go past mine too so I can put away my utensils," Gwen replied.

"Let's go there first."

They stood up and started walking towards the castle again. Gwen was cheerfully chatting about the Grey Lady, who was the House Ghost of Ravenclaw. She was apparently very shy and stayed away from most other people. Gwen was extremely proud she had befriended the people shy spirit this early in only her first year.

"She's really kind once you get to know her," she said.  
"Really, Helena knows every nook and cranny from the school better than anyone else. She was the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, you know."

"Really?" Tom asked curiously.

"Yes, but she doesn't like talking about her mother."

"That's a shame," Tom muttered.  
"She could have been a wondrous source of information on the Founders."

"And what would you do with all that information?" Gwen asked chuckling.

"Knowing all the secrets Hogwarts hides isn't enough a reason, miss Ravenclaw?" the boy teased.

"For a Ravenclaw, yes, but a Slytherin?"

"It was a pretty close call," Tom hummed amused.

"I'm not really surprised," Gwen chuckled.  
"You're really smart. The smartest in our year for sure!"

They arrived at the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower. Tom, not very used to having to climb all the way to the 5th floor huffed a bit, scowling. He always had a bad physique, but this was ridiculous. Gwen lead him towards a door without a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. Tom scowled. Seriously, why was _Raven_ claw's animal an eagle anyway?

 ** _"_** ** _The eight of us go forth, not back to protect our King from foes attack,"_** the eagle spoke up.

Tom scowled and looked over to Gwen questioningly. The redhead grinned at him and indicated he should answer. Shrugging, Tom did just that.

"Chess pawns," he told the knocker.

With a swish, the door opened and allowed the two first years to enter.

"We don't have passwords, we have to answer a riddle to get in," Gwen explained.

"What if you can't answer?" Tom asked curiously.

"Then you'll have to wait until someone else comes by who does."

Tom waited in the common room while Gwen went up to put her art equipment away. He looked around himself interestedly. Ravenclaw Tower really showed the personality of its inhabitants. Nearly every wall was completely hidden by the ceiling high bookcases, and the ceiling was charmed to show a starry night even by day. The blue sofas stood around a crackling fire and a large statue of Rowena Ravenclaw stood proudly in the back, with a staircase on either side of her, going up to the dorms.

In one corner, Tom saw five 7th year students bowed together over a large stack of books. One 6th year sat in a large blue chair, a book in her lap as she observed Tom for a moment. Two 5th years were playing Wizarding Chess while a third was setting up a large calendar with all the exams marked on it, as well as what seemed to be a betting pool on the grades. Tom raised a brow at that.

"I'm ready," Gwen announced as she returned.  
"Let's go to the dungeons and then we can go to dinner."

Tom nodded in agreement and they walked back out. The walk all the way down was done in a comfortable silence. Neither of them really felt like talking at the moment, and neither needed it to. Tom found that being quiet together was often a lot more intimate than talking all the time anyway. He sort of liked it, being able to trust Gwen so much he could let his guard down and lose himself in his thoughts while she was still around.

Eventually, they reached the seemingly empty stone wall that was the entrance to Slytherin. It wasn't as flashy as the other three common room entrances, but Tom found this was for the best. Many of the Slytherins were highly paranoid and preferred to keep the way in a secret anyway. He suspected Salazar Slytherin had been the same.

"Felix Fortuna," he said.

The wall slid away, revealing a perfect archway into the common room. Gwen stared in awe. While Ravenclaw was most definitely a very beautiful place, it wasn't nearly as magical as Slytherin, and this made Tom's chest swell with pride. After all, how many could say that they lived in Atlantis?

"Sometimes, a mermaid swims past," he told his friend proudly.

"It's amazing," Gwen whispered, looking up into the dark water above their head.

"Of course it is. Wait here while I put my book away."

Tom walked towards his dorm briskly. He didn't want to stay in the dorm longer than he had to. As he already said before, most Slytherins were by nature very paranoid. If any of his peers knew he'd let Gwen, a Ravenclaw from a distinctly Gryffindor family, in their common room, there would be hell to pay. They no doubt see it as extra proof that he didn't belong with them.

Unfortunately, as he walked back down, he found the three 7th years crowding around Gwen with deep scowls. The red haired Ravenclaw had wide, fearful eyes and she was tearing up as they kept asking her questions and demanded to know what she was doing there.

"Gwen!" Tom called out, striding over.

One of the three older students, a boy Tom believed was called Gwydion Duval, looked over and sneered as he saw Tom approach.

"Of course the _mudblood_ let the bloodtraitor in," he hissed.

"Disgusting," the girl next to him muttered, glaring down at Tom.

Tom glared at them and grabbed Gwen's arm, dragging her out quickly. The redhead was quite shaken up, making Tom scowl angrily. Slytherin and Ravenclaw got along perfectly well, so what was the problem of showing his friend around? It was probably just because he was a mudblood that they were angry at him for it.

"They just showed up all of a sudden," Gwen mumbled shakily.  
"Ganged up on me before I even realized they were there."

"It's alright, Gwen," Tom murmured to her.

It wasn't. After that, Tom's 'betrayal' quickly spread to all the Slytherins that had stayed for winter break, and Tom found that his stay in the dungeons got only worse and worse. No one talked to him. Not that they did a lot before all this, but now, they mostly acted as if he wasn't there at all. To make things even worse, the other Slytherins even started throwing hexes and curses his way. The Stinging Hex and the Tripping Hex were their favourites, but some had tried for a Wart Curse, and even a Teeth Growing Hex. Soon, Tom avoided the common room and his peers to the best of his abilities and only returned to the dorms around curfew.

Gwen seemed to take it all in stride, and she helped Tom out most of the time to make sure that he wasn't too seriously hurt. Still, Tom could see that his friend blamed herself. He didn't try to comfort her, however. He wasn't all that good with comforting anyway, so why bother trying if it probably would just upset her even more?

"Today the others get back," Gwen said cheerfully on the last day of the break.  
"I bet they won't bully you anymore when your other friends are back. Strength in numbers and all."

Tom nodded mutely and just went on reading. For a few moments longer, Gwen watched him, before she sighed loudly and continued on her drawing. It was no use trying to talk to Tom when he was immerged in his book, or when he disliked a certain subject.

The two of them stayed in a comfortable silence, Gwen drawing, and Tom reading, for several hours. Every once in a while, Tom would mention something he found interesting, to which Gwen would hum and when she had questions or comments, she would voice them and every time, Tom would gladly answer her. Eventually, Tom closed his book with a slam and looked over at Gwen.

"Let's put our stuff away and meet up at the station," he said.

Gwen nodded and started collecting her pencils again. Tom waited patiently until she was done before they went to the castle together.

"Are-are you sure I shouldn't come with you? You know, just to make sure?" Gwen asked hesitantly, blushing a bit.

"I don't need a bodyguard, Gwendolyn," Tom replied coolly.  
"I promise you, I can take care of myself just fine."

Gwen sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Alright," she mumbled softly.  
"I'm sorry that I asked, then."

. . . . .

Tom was staring blankly at his destroyed books, robes and homework essays all thrown messily around the room. Attacking him in the hallways was one thing, but actually sabotaging him like this? Just over one insignificant first year that saw the common room? This was just ridiculous and Tom would not stoop to their level. With a deep sigh, he pulled out his wand.

"Reparo, Scourgify, Tergio, Pack."

It helped a bit, but it wasn't enough. Sighing again, Tom sat down on his bed and readied himself for a long night of repairing, cleaning and catching up destroyed work. He almost wanted to cry, but he refused to lower himself to that. He was better than them, better than all of them.

"Reparo," he said again, choking up a bit.

He wiped at his eyes angrily and aimed his wand at his ripped up books again.

"Re-reparo! Reparo! Scourgify."

. . . . .

Tom was busy rewriting his Potions essay when Alphard, Seth and Abraxas stormed into the dorm, their eyes wide in worry. Seth was the first to walk over to Tom's bed and sit down. His eyes were on the loose papers and ink spots on Tom's bedsheets. Even after all his attempts, he still hadn't gotten everything cleaned up yet.

"What happened?" Alphard asked as he walked closer together with Abraxas.  
"Gwen was panicking when you didn't show up, she actually cried! She said that you might be in trouble!"

"She was exaggerating," Tom mumbled, not looking up from his work.  
"Just some small minded bullies who aren't happy with having a traitorous mudblood in their midst."

Alphard cursed quietly and Seth scowled.

"Why would they think you're a traitor?" Abraxas asked softly.

"Because I let Gwen into the common room," Tom replied dryly.

The three other boys tensed and Alphard turned pale. Finally, Tom raised his head to look at them, scowling deeply at the other boys.

"She's downstairs right now, isn't she?" he asked.

When Seth nodded, Tom sighed and put his essay down. Straightening his robes a bit, he started walking towards the exit. The other three scrambled to follow him.

They didn't get far before loud screaming had them stop for a moment to listen, eyes growing wide.

"What the hell is your bloody problem, Carp?!" the voice of Artemis Black screeched loudly.  
"Trying to curse a first year in the back?! Are you that much of a coward, really?!"

Alphard and Seth both chuckled and looked at each other amused before they moved past Tom and Abraxas to take the lead. Curious, Tom followed, with a very exasperated Malfoy Heir walking next to him. In the common room, the same three 7th years that had started this whole thing had their wands raised at Gwen, while the red haired Ravenclaw was flanked by a fuming Artemis, and a scowling Hope and another girl Tom remembered was called Megan Yaxley.

"Who cares what happens to the bloodtraitor, Black?!"Carp hissed.  
"She's here because that mudblood can't find any proper friends."

"Are you calling us improper?!" Hope asked annoyed.

That had the 7th year scowl in confusion.

"What do you mean, Knight?" he asked snarling.  
"Don't tell me you actually _lowered_ yourself to this _scum_ -"

"I will and I have," Hope replied calmly.  
"I like Tom and Gwen. They're my friends."

"Then you can say goodbye to your pretty pureblood privileges too, traitor!" a 5th year with the name of Rowle growled.

"You think so?" Artemis asked coldly.  
"The Knights, Gwen and Tom are all under the Black protection!"

"As if we need it," Seth whispered scoffing, making Alphard laugh quietly next to Tom.

Walburga, who had been watching the entire time jumped up, an angry sneer on her face.

"Don't decide that for yourself, Artemis!" she hissed angrily.  
"You are only _one_ Black! And I out rule you in age and status! I disagree."

"But I agree."

Everyone tensed up when they heard the voice of the Head Girl. Many heads turned to the entrance to the common room to find Dorea Black standing there, a calm, cold expression on her face as she surveyed everything. Tom had heard rumours about Dorea Black, like how she was a well-practiced duellist, top of her year in every class, and as beautiful and cold as she was smart. And beautiful, she definitely was.

"I agree with Artemis on this, and by your own rule, Walburga, seniority wins," Dorea said.  
"There will be no mistreating of any students, especially not those of your own House. We respect each other and protect each other. Riddle may not be of a grand family, but he is one of our own, and by extension, so is his friend. Especially if said friend has already been accepted by more students in Slytherin."

Artemis smiled brightly and pocketed her wand, looking up at Dorea adoringly.

"Thank you aunt," she said.

"It's no bother. Just keep your friends out of trouble," Dorea replied, a small smile forming on her pale lips.

Tom's eyes widened and his heart sped up. That smile really made Dorea Black look like the most beautiful creature on earth. Was that because of magic? He hadn't seen a lot of ugly people in the wizarding world yet, so maybe it was. Then she, and the whole Black family, were probably _very_ magical. Because Lucretia Black, Cedrella Black and even Walburga were all very beautiful.

Later, Tom would be beautiful too. Handsome and powerful. More powerful that anyone else, and many would kneel down before him, praising him for his beauty and his knowledge. He'd rule the world with a Black woman by his side. That, he swore.


	6. The Pureblood Directory

They still didn't like him in Slytherin. Sure, he had the protection of his six friends, now strengthened by Megan Yaxley, who was a childhood friend of Abraxas, and seemed to have grown a soft spot for Gwen really quickly. And all of them did all in their power to keep Gwen out of trouble too, since many a Slytherin considered her just as guilty as Tom for the 'fall' of their famous pureblood first years. It was funny that Tom's friends were members of four of the five most powerful pureblood families.

The last one were the Lestranges, but Nicolas Lestrange seemed to be keeping himself neutral in the whole ordeal. Tom was infinitely grateful for that. At least his calm dismissal meant many more students chose to let them be. Sadly, not all were as lucky.

Tom and Gwen were back on their way to the library, as they usually did every day after classes. They probably had read every single book in there, but it still wasn't enough for them. Tom was fascinated by magic and all of its uses, while Gwen just loved to read in general and was always hungry for more knowledge like a true Ravenclaw. When they approached the library, Gwen hissed. Hornby, Boot and Selwyn were taunting Octavian again.

"Leave him alone!" she hissed at the three Ravenclaws.

Olive Hornby looked over and sneered as she saw the two of them.

"What were you going to do, bloodtraitor?" she spat, her eyes flickering dangerously.

"She could hex you into oblivion," Tom threatened.

Boot's eyes rose and he chuckled weakly while Hornby just smirked at him.

"Look! Weasley made a mudblood friend!" she taunted.  
"You two losers deserve each other. And a few proper hexes too."

"Just leave it, Olive," Abraxas suddenly spoke up, leaning against the doorframe to the library.

Hornby's eyes widened and her head snapped over to look at the famous pureblood son. The girl scowled, not even noticing that her two friends had ran off as soon as their eyes lay on Abraxas.

"Since when do you stick up for mudbloods and bloodtraitors, Abraxas?" she asked coldly.

"Since I have decided to call them my friends," Abraxas shrugged.

Hornby pulled a face and turned away from Octavian and the others. Before she left she looked at Abraxas again with an accusing glare.

"I'm telling father," she said.

Abraxas snorted and looked away with a bored expression, not even acknowledging the threat as the brunette girl huffed annoyed and walked away. Scowling, Tom walked into the library with Gwen and Octavian following behind him. After a second or two, Abraxas heaved a deep sigh and joined them.

"So the rumours are true?" Gwen blurted out suddenly, peering up curiously at Abraxas.  
"About Olive Hornby and the Malfoy family… Is-is she your half-sister?"

Tom, who had pulled out a book he had wanted to read, dropped it in shock and he turned around.

"It is," Abraxas muttered reluctantly, glaring at Tom.  
"Don't act so bloody surprised, Riddle! It's a regular practice for Purebloods. Most of the family heads have bastards somewhere. Some are even blood-adopted into the family, like Alphard and Artemis."

Tom's eyes widened even more, as did those of Gwen and Octavian.

"Alphard and Artemis Black are bastards?!" Octavian exclaimed shocked.

"Yeah, but Pollux likes to keep it quiet," Abraxas said.  
"His wife blood-adopted them after their mother, Juliana Knight, died in childbirth."

"Bastards…" Tom said awed.  
"Muggles see infidelity as some big scandal, and here all the rich families still have bastards regularly…"

Gwen laughed and grabbed Tom's hand before dragging him over to another section of the library. There, she pulled out a thick, old book and handed it over to Tom. He scowled as he read the title. _'Encyclopaedia of Pureblood Etiquettes: Family Bonds'_

"It's part of a series," Gwen explained eagerly.  
"Other parts I think would interest you are the ones about Politics and Behavioural Hierarchy."

"Or if you want to have a quicker and clearer overlook on Purebloods and Pureblood families, read this," Abraxas piped up, showing another, much more recent book.

Tom looked at it and raised a brow. This one was called _'The Pureblood Directory'_ and was written by Cantankerus Nott.

"It's a complete overview, easy to read," Abraxas told him smugly.  
"Father knows the writer personally. He even financed the publicity of it."

"Is that how your name ended up in the 'Sacred 28?" Octavian asked.

"Of course not! How dare you even suggest such a thing?!" Abraxas hissed offended.

"The book has a list of the 28 most pure families in Britain," Gwen explained when she saw Tom's confused face.  
"It's gotten a lot of criticism because it invited purebloods to interbreed among themselves, especially now that incest is actually realized as having negative effects."

"Only, Cantankerus Nott discovered that wizards don't have those negative effects," Abraxas interjected.

"Not as _strongly_ ," Octavian argued.  
"It's still there! It just takes longer than with muggles. Marius Black is the perfect example."

Abraxas rolled his eyes in annoyance and gave a very annoyed sigh.

"Why I ever thought I'd get a _Weasley_ to understand the complexities of Pureblood traditions, I have no idea."

Tom chuckled and shook his head. It was highly amusing to see them disagree, because while they argued, he could see the shine in their eyes that said they were happy to talk to each other. And he was happy too that he could consider these people his friends.

. . . . .

The Quidditch game between Slytherin and Hufflepuff was that day too, and it was the first game Tom attended, under heavy pressure of the Black twins, who had both green hair with silver tips and one dark green eye and one silver to show their support for the House Team. To his surprise, both Gwen and Octavian were there too, wearing Slytherin scarves and holding a large banner between them. This made Tom scowl confused.

"What are you two doing here? Ravenclaw isn't even playing," he said.

"We're cheering on Slytherin, dummy!" Gwen laughed.

"How come you're here now? I haven't seen you at any game yet!" Octavian asked cheerfully.  
"I come see every game there is. I love Quidditch! I'm bad with a broom, but if I could, I'd definitely try out for the Ravenclaw team next year."

"Tom's here because our team needs all the support it can get for this game!" Artemis said cheerfully.

"Yeah! If we win this game, Slytherin is way ahead for the House Cup!" Alphard piped in, grinning.

Tom rolled his eyes and crossed his arms petulantly.

"I rather get us the House Cup by doing my best in classes," he muttered.

"I swear, Tom! You should have ended in Ravenclaw!" Seth laughed.

This earned him some chuckles from the others before they all turned towards the pitch as the two teams walked in. Tom watched almost bored while everyone around him started cheering loudly. Seth, Alphard and Megan were screaming in delight as everyone flew up while Artemis, Hope, Abraxas and the two Weasleys watched with wide grins.

While everyone was too busy cheering on the two teams, Tom sat back on the bleachers and opened a book he'd found in the library about Alchemy. It was amazing with how many different magical subjects there were. And it was especially upsetting that most of them weren't taught to them.

He'd done some looking up over the interesting subjects, and found that several of them were given as introduction courses in 7th year, or as extra classes for 3rd and up. Tom could already tell that he was going to have a lot of classes in his later years.

Sudden screams had Tom look back up, just in time to see a Bludger flying his way. His dark eyes widened in horror and he dove to the side with a fearful shout. He landed harshly on the ground, at his friend's feet just at the same time as he heard a loud splintering of wood behind him. He looked back and paled at the carnage that had happened on the exact spot he had been sitting only moments earlier.

"Oh Salazar! Tom!" Hope exclaimed.

Two sets of hands grabbed Tom and hauled him up and a second later, Tom was looking into the worried, ashen faces of the Black twins. Both of them had now pale white hair instead of the proud silver and green from earlier, and their eyes a pale blue.

"Are you alright, Tom?" he heard Gwen ask worried behind him.

Instead of answering, Tom slowly turned to look back to the pitch and found Rowle glare hatefully at him, his bat slung over one shoulder as his dark brown eyes bore into his own nearly black ones. The 5th year beater narrowed his eyes threateningly and turned away, flying back to join in the game again.

"Tom?" he heard Hope asked worried.

Tom turned his eyes back on his friends with a blank expression.

"This was the first and last time I _ever_ set foot in the Quidditch Pitch," he said.

The Black twins chuckled nervously at that while Abraxas gave a crooked grin.

"In your case, I'm inclined to agree," the Malfoy heir muttered.

. . . . .

Aside from the Bludger incident, nothing really happened for the remainder of the year. Tom dove back into his studies and spent most of his free time in either library or in the common room along with his friends. It was amusing, really, how no one even noticed how he never went anywhere without at least one friend. Aside maybe from Rowle and Gwen.

The older boy always seemed to lurk nearby, glaring daggers at the back of his head. Some of the other older students pretty much did the same, especially the 7th years it seemed, though they were clearly divided in two. Those who followed Carp's hatred for Tom and Gwen, and those who agreed with Dorea Black.

Artemis, Alphard, Abraxas and Megan mostly ignored the snide remarks thrown at him and them, while Hope and Seth seemed to be more defensive. Artemis had more than once said that the best they could do was laugh it off, because they knew better than that anyway.

"I know it upsets you when someone is mean to Tom, but it won't help him if you stay so protective, Hope," Artemis told her best friend one day.  
"You know how things go around here. Slytherins need to be able to stand up for themselves, and not giving Tom a chance is wrong."

"They don't give Tom a chance," Hope huffed.

"It's fine, Hope," Tom said, not Looking up from the _'Pureblood Directory'_ as he read through it with great interest.  
"They're all 7th years anyway. They'll be gone next year, so I don't really care what they say."

They hadn't yet caught on to Rowle's new hobby of haunting Tom from the shadows, and if it was to him, they wouldn't ever. Hope sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Fine. Sorry, Tom," she muttered.

"It's alright," the boy shrugged.

. . . . .

At last, the exams came around. Tom and the others had been studying for about two months now, though the Black twins and Megan had been more reluctant than the others, and Artemis and Alphard had only joined in after continuous hounding of Hope and Gwen.

It was incredibly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an AntiCheating spell. For the Charms practical exam, they were called in one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk and Professor Dumbledore watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Slughorn had told Tom, Gwen and Hope loudly he expected nothing less than perfect from them before they started on their Forgetfulness Potion, which had caused the red haired Ravenclaw to pale and tremble as the nerves got to her.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free for a whole week until their exam results came out. When Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Alphard, Artemis and Seth cheered loudest of everyone and even conjured confetti, just to show off how happy they were that it was finally over.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," Tom said as he and his friends walked out onto the sunny grounds.  
"I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"The what of the what-now?" Alphard asked frowning.  
"Why should we know things like that?! Did we learn that in class?"

This caused Artemis to huff out a laugh while Hope hit the dark haired boy over the head with a scowl.

"We spend two whole classes on the Werewolf Code of Conduct!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" Seth asked his twin confused.  
"Huh. Must've slept through that one…"

. . . . .

Finally, the year was over, or unfortunately in Tom's case, since it meant he was soon to go back to the Orphanage for two whole months. At least he would go back with the knowledge he now had a place he could belong.

The end of year feast was something spectacular, and it only got better with the amazing silver and green decorations that hung everywhere in the Great Hall since the Slytherins had won the House Cup. Several of his Housemates even came up to Tom to congratulate him and thank him, since he had scored by far the most of points in their whole House.

He and his friends barely listened to Professor Dippet's speech, too caught up with each other as they whispered excitedly amongst each other. They just couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that their first year was already over.

Before they knew it their trunks were packed, their beds were empty and everyone was ready to go home. Notes were handed out and every student was reminded they weren't allowed to use magic outside school.

"That's a right shame this," Alphard scoffed jokingly, making the group of friends chuckle amused.

All but Tom looked happy and excited, but all the young orphan could think of was how he wouldn't be able to protect himself from the other kids if he wasn't allowed to do any magic at all. He wasn't going to admit that he was in danger or anything of course, wasn't even planning on telling his friends anything about his treatment in the muggle world. He didn't need any pity. Especially not from them.

"You'll need to visit us this summer," Alphard told Tom and the Knights.

He hesitated a moment, looking at Gwen. Eventually it was Artemis that took over with a bright smile towards the red haired girl.

"You're welcome if you want as well, Gwen. We'll send you an owl," she said.

The Blacks and Abraxas were gone before Gwen and Tom who got pulled aside by the Knight twins.

"Come on, Tom. Our parents are dying to meet you!" Seth said cheerfully.

"You too, Gwen," Hope said chuckling while looking at the redhead.  
"Dad is a colleague of your dad and he wanted to meet you too."

They were dragged over to where a couple was standing, bright, friendly smiles on their faces. The woman was tall and had long light hair that was maybe even whiter than that of the twins, while their father had golden curls and soft brown eyes. Tom smiled. It seemed that Hope and Seth had gotten their looks from their mother, as the woman turned her bright, silver eyes on him.

"Busy year?" Mrs. Knight asked as they had reached them and smiled at the raven.

"Yes. It was very exciting," Tom agreed.

He turned to look at his friends and smiled at Gwen, his first real friend ever.

"See you over summer?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'll send you owls," she said.  
"Happy… um… Summer."

"Don't let the muggles get you down!" the twins said encouraging.

"Don't worry. I've always been able to take care of myself," Tom told them smirking.

With a that, he walked through the barrier with his trunk and towards the parking lot where an Orphanage worker was already waiting for him. Tom turned up his nose as he recognized the skinny, tall man with brown messy hair and piggy little eyes. He absolutely despised David Cornwell.

"Ready are you?" the man said as he saw Tom approach.

"Yes," Tom bit out frowning.

With one last look towards the station, he loaded his trunk in the back of the old, rusty car and slid in the passenger seat. Two months without magic or Hogwarts was going to be the worst time in his life. Especially now that he had tasted of a better world and better life.

* * *

 **And that's the end of year one! Hurray! I will start posting year two as a new story once I've gotten a good head start on storyline and maybe I'll synchronize updating with Gittiekittie's Slytherin Harry's second year since they will both intermix eventually. This Tom Riddle will eventually become the Lord Voldemort her Harry is facing after all.**


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